Join the Overwhelmed Mom Launch Team!

Calling all bibliophiles, overwhelmed moms, fans of smooth days, folks who can hype, and anyone craving more quiet in their lives!

Perhaps you've heard that I've written a new book. It's called Overwhelmed Mom: Quiet the Chaos, Mind What Matters, and Enjoy Your Life Again. It doesn't hit shelves until Tuesday, August 5th, but from now until then, word about it needs to spread like wildfire. So, I'm gonna need your help in fanning the flames.

Would you be willing to link internet arms with me and join my launch team? Pretty please!

5 Hearty Recipes for Soup Season

"You can make soup out of anything!" This is my wintertime mantra. 

Since my family doesn't love eating leftovers, soup is my Go-To Nextover--my simple way to put a new shine on the scraps from a previous meal.

When I'm pressed for time, I can toss some leftovers, a quart or so of broth, and the veggies to make a mirepoix (chopped onions, carrots, and celery) into a pot, and have a hot and hearty dinner on the table in a half hour. It's like magic!

4 Ways I'll be Increasing in 2025

This past year was marked by much increase, in both big and small ways. Some of the growth has left the scars of stretch marks on my life, but mostly, it has just widened my world in immeasurable ways.

My oldest entered her junior year at a Christian university on the other side of the country and joined a church all on her own; my second-born went on a short-term mission trip to an orphanage in Belize, graduated high school, and left home to serve his country; my middle son started taking online dual-enrollment courses at a Christian university and got his driver's license; my fourth-born won the Congressional Art Competition for our district, won the Cy Young pitcher's award for our high school's baseball team, and went on an inner-city missions trip to St. Louis; my last born played on two different local baseball teams and one football team.

The 2024 TUH Gift Guide for Book Lovers

Recently, I searched online for Ferrari-themed novelties for my middle son. I didn't expect to find many. Boy, was I unprepared for the number of ideas that began to pop up? Turns out, he's not the only one preoccupied with a certain Italian racing car company. I snagged a hat, a shirt, and a handful of stickers. Admittedly, I don't love Ferrari--a car is a car to me. Not better or worse than any other. But I love my son, and he loves Ferrari. So, I make it a point to invest in his passion in order to invest in him. Sometimes, I need a little help, though. I need to be pointed in a good direction. 

Brown Paper Package Back-to-Homeschool Party, Moms Only

Homeschool moms are the unsung heroes of education. Unlike classroom teachers, we don't get a salary for our efforts. We get no holiday pay, sick days, or a fat 401K at the journey's end. But what we do get is each other. We're a tight-knit group--a sisterhood of moms who understand the many wins and losses of this unconventional schooling choice and have both the victory laps and the battle scars to prove it.

The 5 Most Popular Posts of 2023

Since the inception of the interwebs, viral has become a tricky word. It has its roots in things like viruses, infections, and germs. And yet, in our digital days, viral speaks more of popularity than poison. I guess we can chalk it up to our ever-evolving zeitgeist which is, unapologetically, like a virus--moving, growing, and multiplying in contagious ways.

4 Ways I'll be Increasing in 2024

2023 was one of simplicity and small joys. Before I move forward, however, I have to first look back. I have to take stock of how I did or did not honor the commitments I made to myself last year. Like always, I set four goals for myself. They were as follows:

The 2023 TUH Gift Guide for Book Lovers

There are ten of us in total. We gather in my living room every fourth Monday of the month. Scootching our chairs close together, we open our books. Whether we loved it or hated it, we're always ready to talk about it. We've got big thoughts about the month's title and even bigger thoughts about books in general. We're a book club.

Before settling in for a great discussion, I almost always pass out a slice of this or a scoop of that--a sweet treat for the women to enjoy. They balance their plates precariously on their laps and hold a hot cup of something in their hands. In the last two years of playing hostess to this motley crew of women, I've slowly curated a collection of book-themed mugs.

Organizing Your Homeschool Year: Using Work Binders & Task Cards

Written by Krista Smith.

You’ve stuck with me for three out of the four parts in this series on organization, and we’re finally in the home stretch. In Part 1, I showed you the ugly underbelly of my early homeschooling years and how that difficult time was the impetus for a big change in the way I plan and organize everything from the macro (yearly) level down to the nitty gritty micro (daily) level.

Organizing Your Homeschool Year: Using Monthly Folders

Written by Krista Smith.

In Part 1 of this 4-part series, I confessed that after limping along for a couple of years, one day, I finally realized that something needed to change in my homeschool. I needed confidence and better daily systems in order to love, serve, and teach my kids well.

In Part 2, I shared why planning out some things in the homeschool day and setting them on autopilot can be life-giving and sanity-restoring, whether you use the particular methods I suggest or come up with brand new ones that work better for your unique family. I also walked through STEP 1 in the 4-step overlapping system I use to plan out everything from the yearly level to the daily level in my homeschool.

Organizing Your Homeschool: Using a Planner

Written by Krista Smith.

In Part 1 of this 4-part series, I gave you a peek behind the curtain of chaos that was my early years of homeschooling. In this post, I’m hoping and praying that the things the Lord has been teaching me (mainly by hard knocks) and which I have been privileged to teach to other mothers, will breathe life into your homeschool, reduce stress (for you and your kids), and bring order to your chaotic days.

Organizing Your Homeschool Year: A Confession

Written by Krista Smith.

If you’ve been homeschooling longer than 2 minutes, it’s safe to say you may, at some point, have had picturesque visions of what your school year could be like...should be like. 

For most of us, these raptures typically occur in June when we’re all eagerly unwrapping the beautiful new curriculums which arrive in the mailbox at regular intervals throughout the summer. We tear open the shrink wrap like sugar addicts unwrapping Twinkies. We become starry-eyed as we flip through the pages, imagining how amazingly this year is going to go, all while trying to forget the dumpster fire that was last year…

…Please, Lord…

But this year! This year will be different. We secretly proclaim to ourselves.

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022

Since the inception of the interwebs, viral has become a tricky word. It has its roots in things like viruses, infections, and germs. And yet, in our digital days, viral speaks more of popularity than poison. I guess we can chalk it up to our ever-evolving zeitgeist which is, unapologetically, like a virus--moving, growing, and multiplying in contagious ways.

4 Ways I'll be Increasing in 2023

In his lifetime, famed 18th-century American revivalist Jonathan Edwards made 70 guidelines that steered all of his decisions. He later renamed these goals his "Resolutions" and committed to reading through them each and every day. 

While not a direct quote, his first two guidelines can be summed up as follow: 

Resolved: I will live for God. If no one else does, I still will. 

As I enter 2023 and prayerfully consider how I might set my days, I've been thinking a lot about this quote.

What I Learned From the 2022 Cook Book Challenge

Last December, I bought myself a Christmas present--Magnolia Table, vol. 2. You see, I had made a goal to work my way through an entire cookbook in one year and needed a cookbook that would create a realistic and worthwhile challenge.

Meal Time Hacks for the Homeschool Mom

Written by Krista Smith.

One of my dearest friends is expecting her fifth baby sometime in the new year. She is one of the women for whom pregnancy is an uphill battle from start to finish—which is why she reached out for some advice on how to make cooking for her growing family more manageable when all she feels like doing is curling up on the couch with a bucket in front of her face.

So, I sat down and thought of as many of the time-saving tips as I could and I hope you’ll benefit from them too!

The 2022 TUH Gift Guide for Book Lovers

Helpful PSA: I'm not a fan of shopping. As a general rule, I'd rather braid the hair of my neighbor's cat than enter a department store. There is one teensy exception to my self-diagnosed shopping allergy, however. I'm sure you can guess what it is.

Books.

I'd also add their bookish next of kin--readerly accessories--to my short list of items that can lure me into the mall. (Why? Because as a reader, I'm not just here for the books, I'm here for the entire literary lifestyle. It's an incurable disorder. I've come to terms with it. If we're to be friends, you should too.)

When You Forget How Hard It Was

Written by Krista Smith.

“Mom! I am never going to figure this out! I don’t understand how it works and I’m tired of feeling stupid.”

I wish I could tell you that I have always had a hug and a wise answer on the other side of that sentence. But, sadly, I have blown it. Many times. And sometimes, even when nothing comes out of my mouth, I blow it in my mind. The Lord, in His goodness, has given me grace in this area even as I continue to stumble through these sometimes-difficult days with my children.

What I've Learned from 10 Years of Blogging about Homeschooling

This week marks the 10th anniversary of this little space on the interwebs. After blogging privately about our home and homeschool for around six years, I made the decision to start a public blog that focused on home education. I was homeschooling my oldest two kids, greatly pregnant with my fifth, and running on coffee fumes most days.

Writing online became my catharsis. It helped me find my way through the wilderness. The notion that anyone besides my mom wanted to read my words? Well, that was a fun bonus.

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2021

Unprecedented. That seems to be the most overworked word in the American lexicon these days. It's been pulled into so many sentences that if it gets stretched any further it just might rip clean through.

But, in this case, unprecedented feels like the perfect label for the kind of reading year I had in 2021. 

In the past, I've been able to log about 40ish books by December's end. A solid number for a work at home, homeschooling mother of five, in my opinion. At the close of 2021, however, my book journal showed that I finished 87 titles, an unprecedented number for me, to be sure.